Within post-conflict and conflict-affected settings, as a national identity is contested, shaped, negotiated, and re-negotiated, history and social studies education can serve to develop a sense of unity among a nation's citizens and a shared vision for the future (Bekerman & Zembylas, 2011; Korostelina, 2019). At the same time, history and…

In February 2019, two nations with the largest nuclear arsenals announced their withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Russia's interference in U.S. elections and the invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated tensions between the U.S. and Russia. These actions bring renewed attention to nuclear nonproliferation efforts…

Polarization in the United States and controversy over the teaching of content some deem "divisive" has resulted in the enactment of restrictive legislation in many states. Such constraints contribute to a fraught environment in schools today and significantly impact the work of teaching. Utilizing frameworks of "ambitious…

Assessment remains a power nexus in Higher Education, where remnants of coloniality pool. The power that assessment holds makes it an important site for decolonisation. The purpose of this article is to present an experiment, and open a discussion, on the decolonisation of assessment. We argue that bringing assessment into the decolonisation…

Despite the increasing literature on textbook analysis in post-conflict societies, few studies have investigated textbooks in conflict-ridden areas where wars and armed conflicts are still ongoing. This study examines representations of North Korea and unification in South Korean middle school social studies textbooks. South Korea is an…

This study examined the role of history education for nation building in Ethiopia, Germany Rwanda, South Africa, Switzerland, and USA using a comparative research method. Student textbooks and syllabi were the main data sources. Document review was the principal data-gathering tool and the data was analysed qualitatively. Findings revealed that…

With concerns over student motivation, it helps to look inward at how teachers' instructional methods and professional practices impact students. Keeping this context in mind, teachers should also recognize that they are teaching and learning in a new era--one where "read-the-chapter-and-answer-the-questionsin-the-back" pedagogies are no…

This research critically evaluates the depiction of Israelis and Palestinians in World History textbooks and World History teachers' instructional discourse. Employing a Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis methodology, this study offers a comparison between written narratives and spoken discourse in order to analyze the portrayals found in…

Public education is one influence on how young people learn to navigate social conflicts and to contribute to building democratic peace, including their sense of hope or powerlessness. Social studies curricula, in particular, introduce core concerns, geographies, governance and civil society, and participation skills and norms. History education…

This study examined the 4th-grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessments (history, geography, and civics) and 3rd- and 4th-grade social studies standards from nine randomly selected states and organized the content around three global concepts (conflict, movement, discovery) and six specific concepts (war, rebellion,…

This pilot study investigates the role of anxiety for early childhood pre-service social studies teachers as they learn methods to teach curriculum on slavery and associated issues such as racism or White privilege. The findings indicate that a variety of aspects cause pre-service teachers to experience anxiety around the thought of having to…

In Guatemala, three centuries after Spanish conquest and in the wake of more than three decades of internal conflict, the framers of the 1996 Accord for a Firm and Lasting Peace placed educational reform at the center of efforts to make peace with this contentious past. This article, based on a multisite qualitative study, describes how Guatemalan…

The authors conducted a content analysis of North Carolina history textbooks to explore how the definition of immigration has changed over the last century. They also examined how immigrant groups and involuntary Americans have been portrayed throughout the state's history. Findings suggest that as a burgeoning gateway state for immigrants, North…

Despite its importance as the event establishing that the 20th century would be known as "the age of genocide," the destruction of the Armenians that occurred between the mid-1890s and 1923 is given marginal coverage in contemporary U. S. high school history textbooks. This article critiques that coverage and identifies the overall flow…

A successful middle school team of teachers employed effective middle level philosophy to structure a curriculum around themes that were relevant, challenging, integrative, and engaging for their particular students and community. Realizing that their young adolescents were involved in tough, delicate issues in their out-of-school lives, the…